The Age of Innocence (film)

Independent Films, Film Profiles

The Age of Innocence is a 1993 film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder, released by Columbia Pictures. It is a film adaptation of the book of the same name by Edith Wharton. The film won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.Newland Archer (Day-Lewis), an affluent lawyer in 1870s New York, is engaged to May Welland (Ryder), a beautiful but conventional socialite. Newland begins to question the life he has planned for himself after the arrival of May’s cousin, the exotic and sophisticated Countess Ellen Olenska (Pfeiffer). Ellen is not seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, a Polish count, but everyone believes she is, which has made her a social outcast and greatly displeases her family, who are afraid of scandal. As Newland grows to care more and more deeply for Ellen, having convinced her not to press for a divorce, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the society to which he belongs and the idea of entering into a passionless marriage with May. The question at this point, is whether he will follow society's dictates, or his heart. The film, closely mirroring the novel, gives no simple answer.